Students tired of gun violence at schools, rallied together today for the National School Walkout.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams joined hundreds of students from across Brooklyn to demand stricter gun laws from local and federal lawmakers at the Prospect Park band shell earlier today.
In the wake of the Feb. 14, Marjory Stoneman High School shooting, students across the country have been energized to fight for anti-gun violence legislation including universal background checks and in-school safety measures.
“They want you to believe that this is a moment, but it’s not. It’s a movement. And it is so important that we allow young people to come and voice and show that they are very much a part of changing America,” said Adams.
Adams went onto encourage the students and the youth at the event to continue demanding gun reform and to push legislators until they see the change they want in the world.
“Don’t believe the lie that the winds of change were blown by adults. Young people have always blown the direction of where the country and the globe is going to travel. So take a deep breath and say to the NRA and others, that we are going to end this senseless violence,” said Adams.
Today’s National School Walkout gave students an opportunity to call out the recent inaction by Washington to make sweeping gun reforms in the wake of the tragedy in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and staff.
Christopher Stauffer, 17-year-old at Bard College in Brooklyn, took the time to highlight the need for more youth voices in politics, pushing for support for the Young Voter Act, a bill would lower the voting age to 17 for state and local elections (A.6839/A.6840).
“I’m sick of having to watch politicians and public officials pretend to care about these issues.
We need to make sure that young people’s voices are being heard. We do this by allowing young people to vote. Young people should be able to vote. Young people should be able to have the opportunity to actually get their voices heard, “ said Stauffer.
The teens were also sure to call out congressional lawmakers who receive financial backing from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for their lack of empathy toward student lives.
“This is an uphill climb, we have a lot of powerful people in front of us. If you think a machine is more important that my life, or millions of kids lives, then where is your morality??! Where is your humanity! You have no right to call yourself an American, if you think owning a gun is more important than any of our lives,” said Lane Murdock, 15-year-old Sophomore and Founder of the National High School Walkout.
Currently, the Trump administration is floating a proposal to arm school teachers and staff with guns, backing off from an earlier measure to increase the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21 years old. Last week, the White House vowed to help provide “rigorous firearms training” to some school teachers, according to the Washington Post.
“If we continue down this path the traumatizing impact of these shootings is going to change who and what we are. We are not the NRA. We are the USA and we need to start understanding that,” said Adams.
